When we last spoke to Sylvia Read about her friends and adopted family in Vanuatu she said that the country was still smiling in the wake of Cyclone Pam.

Six months on, that has changed.

Many Australians have connections - mainly through holidays - to the 65 inhabited islands that make up Vanuatu.

For Sylvia, her partner Troy, and their three children the connections are deeper. They lived there for two years, only returning to settle in Batemans Bay on the New South Wales far south coast late last year.

We first spoke to Sylvia in March, a day or two after Pam's 270km/hr winds had eased. She reported that her loved ones were safe but in need of assistance to rebuild.

The Reads launched a fundraising effort and ABC South East NSW has been offering support along the way.

Just back from Vanuatu for the first time since the cyclone, Sylvia has spoken about the sadness that has taken over this famously happy and vibrant people.

"The first day we got there, my husband, myself and the kids said nobody's happy," she says.

"Where's all the music playing out of cars?"

Up until this three-week trip, the Reads had kept in touch with Vanuatu via social media but Sylvia says seeing the full picture rather than just snippets was something else.

"Because I work in mental health I could see that there was this overwhelming sense of just sadness amongst the people," she says.

Drought has followed Pam and weighs heavily on families and the rebuilding effort, with little rain in the last three months.

"It's drier than outback New South Wales," Sylvia says.

"There is a real, real food shortage,"

"The market place, for people who have been, you'll remember the markets are full of the smells and all the fresh fruit and vegetables. There is no fruit, no bananas, no pineapples, no mangoes, no watermelons."

Some remote families have taken drastic survival steps. Sylvia reports seeing signs in Port Vila pleading for children to be taken into care, promising that those who do can keep one of the children at the end of the drought as some kind of reward.

Just last week the ABC's Pacific Beat program reported that two children on Vanuatu's Tanna Island died of dehydration.

"It's a horrible, horrible sight to see when you've come from Batemans Bay and everything is green and lush," Sylvia says.

The big aid agencies are at work on the ground focused on day to day needs like food, drinking water and basic shelter. Sylvia points to big yachts acting as desalination plants turning sea water into drinking water for the villages.

Charity from the far south coast of New South Wales is also at work with the Reads taking $6500 with them to help rebuild a small six metre by seven metre three-bedroom family home.

Sylvia says the people of Vanuatu are resilient and proud and she is confident they will overcome the challenges left in the wake of Cyclone Pam.

The Reads will carry on with their local fundraising via the Vanuatu Build a Shelter Facebook page and a special account at the Commonwealth Bank - Vanuatu Build A Shelter Association Bank Account 062650 10302719

This is Aisha part of the extended family the Read's from Batemans Bay have in Vanuatu. The Read's raised $6,500 to rebuild this home on Tanna Island. It stands 6 metres by 7 meters and features 3 bedrooms and a toilet.
(Sylvia Read - Vanuati Build a Shelter Asscoiation)